Rangers acquire Isbister

Some of you already know about this but here’s the release from the Rangers. Sounds like it’s more to get Hartford out of the cellar than anything else. ll have more later…

New York, November 21, 2006 — New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has acquired forward Brad Isbister from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the rights to Jakub Petruzalek and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Isbister will report to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Isbister, 29, has appeared in nine games with the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League (AHL) this season, recording three goals and five assists for eight points, along with 54 penalty minutes. His eight points are tied for third on the River Rats, while his 54 penalty minutes rank second on the team.

The 6-4, 231-pound forward has skated in 467 career NHL contests with the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, and Boston Bruins, registering 99 goals and 107 assists for 206 points, along with 563 penalty minutes. In 2005-06, he skated in 58 games with the Bruins, collecting six goals and 17 assists for 23 points, along with 46 penalty minutes. As a third-year forward with the Islanders in 1999-00, he established career-highs in goals (22), power play goals (nine) and points (42) in 64 games.

Internationally, Isbister skated with his native Canada at the 2000 and 2001 World Championships. In nine games at the 2000 tournament, he ranked third on the team in scoring with seven points (four goals and three assists). He also led Team Canada in scoring with seven points in seven games at the 1997 World Junior Championships and helped his team capture a gold medal.

Prior to joining the professional ranks, Isbister appeared in 226 career games with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL), registering 83 goals and 92 assists for 175 points, along with 397 penalty minutes. He ranked second on the Winter Hawks in scoring in 1995-96, collecting 45 goals and 44 assists for 89 points and earned WHL Second Team All-Star honors in 1996-97.

A native of Calgary, Alberta, Isbister was originally drafted by Winnipeg with its fourth choice, 67th overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

Petruzalek, 21, has appeared in 13 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) and Charlotte Checkers (ECHL) this season, registering one goal and 11 assists for 12 points.

71 Comments

Personally, I haven’t seen him play since his time out on the Island; but I remember him being a good tough guy player with some skill. Kind of like Tucker early in his career, except Tucker got better, while Isbister clearly got worse. Still, so long as he isn’t too terribly slow or bad defensively these days, his PIMS make him attractive as an alternative to Orr.

I usually like to go by the maxim “the guy who gets the best player got the better end of the deal.” (Also the opinion of Barry Melrose) Isbister is the better player right now, so let’s see if this is a complete bust or not. Petruzalek was a ninth rounder. I call ninth rounders long shots, not prospects.

Brad Isbister? Wow! Think he will be competition for Colton Orr? Is it ever a good thing to trade a 21 YO player you are not sure is a prospect for a 29 YO that has proven that he sucks at the NHL level? Don’t think so. Coming next…..Sanguinetti, Prucha and a #1 for Peter Forsberg. Go get that cup, Slats. Cripes.

the guys at Blueshirt Bulletin actually WATCH, EVALUATE, and INTERVIEW the young Ranger prospects. They follow them more closely than ANY other Ranger fans.

And the guy who runs the BB, Dubi, says this about the trade,

“In Petruzalek, the Rangers are giving up a diminutive playmaker who is just 21. In seven games for Charlotte of the ECHL, the speedy center had nine assists and ten points. He had two assists in six games for Hartford. Hard to imagine what the Rangers get out of this deal — even if Petruzalek is a longshot to ever make the NHL, Isbister is a dinosaur whose NHL days are over. It doesn’t seem to be worth giving up anything for a transient player just to increase the veteran presence of the young Pack, not when there are freebies like Chris Ferraro in abundance.”

Also Adam, read the TSN scouting report again and then tell me about Isbisters “physical” game. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Takes far too many nights off, and has yet to shake the tag of chronic underachiever. DoesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t use his size nearly enough to maximize his potential.Ã¢â‚¬? Nothing like a 230 lb underachiever. And he’s gonna provide veteran leadership in Hartford? If this wasn’t so ridiculous it would be hysterically funny.

The guy has been on the MINOR LEAGUE TEAM for less than an hour and everyone is ready to crucify Sather! give him (and me) a break. Let’s wait at least a couple of weeks before we line up the firing squad.

Chardkarm- This is how Orr is made to sweat: you sit him for Pock. Pock plays well. Then you turn to Orr and say “your turn.” Pock playing well in Orr’s place will make him think “Gee, they have someone who can replace me. maybe I need to work harder.” It’s not that Pock played bad. It’s that you now need to give the player he replaced a chance to prove that he should stay in the lineup.

By the way, I’m down to my last nerve with you. I think I am probably going to ignore you from now on.

“Here were are debating ad nauseum who should be on the fourth line, and when Thomas Pock gets in, he plays a grand total of 4:46. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve got news for you: At 4:46 a game, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m pretty sure IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d make about as big an impact as Pock. To his credit, Renney said he didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t use Pock enough, and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d imagine weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll see an encore Tuesday against the Hurricanes.”

Well, Renney solved that. Pock won’t play at all.

Renney is SO TRUTHFUL about Ranger youth that I don’t know how anyone could question Ranger mgmt. on their word or their deeds.

Any call up from Hartford the guy who will get it will be Isbister not the young guys not even the guys who won best rookie in camp but a retread in Isbister. Just another stiff getting in the way of the rangers developing more players for the years to come.

I dont know,…I dont consider 12 points in 13 games to be all that bad. Sure most are assists, but thats important too. Without assists, not many goals are scored.
I think his record merited more credit, especially considering he has his whole career to get better. Isbister has the rest of his career to get worse. I dont know, maybe Im not seeing something here, but it would seem we are getting further and further away from the prophetic “rebuild”

Isbister? At best, this is a non-event. Most likely, it’s to help the flailing pack. At worst, pen him in on fourth line instead of Orr. Sorry to loose Petruzalek. I’m in agreeance that he’s a fringe “prospect” so to speak, who showed some promise in juniors.

Got to love you junior geniuses who write off Petruzalek without knowing squat about him.

Yeah, it’s better to bring in another guy who has topped out as a mediocre NHLer and is on the decline than to see if our prospects are actually any good. Dawes who should be in the NHL is buried in Hartford; Petruzalek, who tore it up in Barrie last spring, should be in the AHL. Both should be testing their upside. Instead, Dawes has his career in stasis and Petru catches a break by going to an organIzation that will give its prospects a chance.

Meanwhile we get ANOTHER guy who will never be better than he already was, and that wasn’t anything special to begin with.

But it’s ok, because we have some players casual fans will pay to see and we are teetering on the edge of the playoffs – along with teams like the Pens and the Isles who have a couple games in hand on us. Cablevision Inc. will meet their earnings estimates for the its NHL subsidiary, which is all that really matters.

Hey Doodie Machetto,
I don’t think the fans on this blog are crucifying Sather for the Isbister trade. I’m tired of saying this just like youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re tired of defending Hossa but the rangers under Sather didn’t make the playoffs for seven years. I don’t understand why Sather is getting a pass here. In the NHL it isn’t that hard to make the playoffs and yet it took the rangers seven years.
I promise this is the last time I will say it.

It’s kind of funny but since sather is so great at drafting that this kid he gave up for dead wood probably will turn out to be a decent nhl player. I’m only going by sather’s track record by the way which is really impressive.

By the way for some bloggers this statement “ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s kind of funny but since sather is so great at drafting that this kid he gave up for dead wood probably will turn out to be a decent nhl player. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m only going by satherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s track record by the way which is really impressive.” is me being sarcastic just in case.

Petruzalek Had like 7 of his assists in the FIRST TWO GAMES!!! he had 2 JUST 2 great games…and he has had 3 points between hartford and Charolette since then…again…7 PP assists in two games…I tihnk he had 5 the first game in the ECHL…its not like he has been consistant. Yes he is young, but for him to become something important on the rangers ALOT…ALOT of other prospects would have to not make it or get traded…I dont care what kind of scouting reports they have on him, he was WAY down the charts, and he was not doing so well te last few games. 7 Points in two games…than 3 in 11…OK…yeah…I might not like giving up on youth (see my Jessiman feelings) but there is a point when a young player is tarded that you just have to see that not every young palyer is kept, and in this case, he isnt a big loss for the Rangers..I will be shocked if he makes it in the nHl at all, and doubly shocked if he makes an impact from game to game.

Fine, then acquire something good for him…
Brad isbister is not my idea of a steal, if he stays in hartford then fine I dont care, but if they expect to bring him up to the big club at a young players expense, then it is just plain stupid,…even if he does exceed expectations. It just runs counter to their “supposed” long term plan.

pemoco: yeah Dawes MAYBE should be in the NHL…but noone could have known that in the offseon…he was arook last yera…and if the other guy Petruzalk or however you spell it, should be in the AHL…he was called up, played 4 games than teh staff decided he wasnt doing good enough and sent him down…and for a guy who SHOULD be in the AHL he didnt tear it up at the ECHL level…he had one big game, the game that the Checkers destroyed the other team on opening night..he had 5 PP assists, than the second game he had 3 PP assists. SO since than in 5 games he has a goal and 2 assists…not something that most people would be screaming he be called up to the AHL for…and his 2 points in 4 games in the AHL dont scream to anyone ither…so lets not go overboard about a lesser prospect who is getting average points in the ECHL.

Plebeian I really think that he wouldnt be in at the expense of a young palyer…but come playoff time or jsut during the season, sitting in the stands will affect a young palyer called up from Hartford to be the 13th forward more than a vet. What I mean is that when you go on a road trip, and for the playoffs you hcarry an extra forward with you. If the rangers lose someone to injury or trade, and Orr is in the linupe, and they need to call a player up from Hartford to basicly pratice and sit in the stands…it would be better to bring up a vet, rather than stop a young developing player from playing…HOWEVER at the same time, if a palyer is need to play in NY it should be a prospect because they can learn from that. But I woulndt get upset about Isbister blocking a youngster untill it happens. His presence may be good for the pack…hopefully it is, than we can see the confidence of the prospects go up, and the Pack can start winning and we can really get a look at the upside of some of the Rangers youngsters

you just don’t get it, Wildcard. It has nothing to do with Petruzalek. It has to do with the GENERAL DIRECTION of the brass’ deeds, compared to their words.

when the mgmt. of a franchise says, 3 years ago, “we are going to rebuild with youth”, and then they re-load with veterans and keep youth down, and trade youth for washed up retread vets, and bench and sit out those few they do have on the team, well then you have a promise broken.

As I have said before, the fans didn’t call that Future Blue televised meeting for the MSG cameras. It was THE RANGER BRASS who called that meeting, and they used the fans to spread manure about a supposed youth emphasis that has simply not been followed thru on. period.

4Rangers – Youth or not, you still need at least SOME veterans on the farm. Granted, career minor leaguers might not sound thrilling, but the team used to have Gernander. Isbister has been to the big show and did fairly well for a few years. Having him on the farm won’t hurt, only help. Helping a bunch of guys that have a legitimate shot to become something at the cost of one player who is a longshot to make the NHL on ANY team, let alone a team with so many players above him in the system isn’t a bad idea in the direction of rebuilding.

Wildcard: thanks for the info on Petruzalek. Makes him even worse than he already sounded. People liked to point out the 12 pts in 13 games (or 11 in 12, I forget which), but didn’t mention most were at the ECHL level. You made it even more clear that most came in two blow out games.

I understand everyone is upset with Sather based on his history here in NY. I know I am. But, they did well last year. They are fun to watch most nights. But the problem with the Rangers this season isn’t in the forwards they are playing. It’s not in the forwards they aren’t playing either. Putting Dawes on the third line (which is the best he would have gotten this year) wouldn’t have won them any extra games because any games he might have caused them to win with offense, he would have matched with games he caused them to lose with defense, maybe more so when you consider the role of the third line. The problems for this year are the defense and inconsistent goaltending (although the tending seems to be resolving itself).

You are all thinking long-term, and I understand that. But while we have Jagr and Shanahan, why not make the playoffs a couple fo times? We just had 7 losing seasons, can’t we put 3 or 4 winners together first before rebuilding? Please?

Ha, good pun. I made one about Moore a couple of day’s ago. And we’re not completely avoiding a rebuild. We have a young player in defense, offense, and goaltending, and all of our bottom 6 forwards are young as well.

yeah, Lundy and Prucha only got the chance because of injuries, and they and Hollweg are fan favorites who Renney doesn’t dare give the pock treatment. and the other 5 on the botom 2 lines are not homegrown youth, but mid-age acquisitions from other teams. Nice try.

They pulled that deal because Jack Johnson opted to go back to college. I remember reading that he may eventually be reelligible for the draft- meaning Carolina may have gotten nothing in return for a top pick. I don’t remember exactly how it worked, though. but that, combined with Carolina’s desire to repeat, both problems because of Johnson’s decision, was their reasoning.

You guys better get used to moves like this. The Rangers have tons of guys in the pipeline that will play pro. This guy had no future with the franchise…so on his way he goes. No basis for an complaint here.